Asthma on the decline since smoking ban

The number of British children admitted to hospital with symptoms of asthma has fallen since the UK’s ban on smoking in enclosed public places came into effect, a study has found. Research shows there was a 12.3 per cent fall in admissions in the first year after the law came into place in July 2007, and these have continued to drop in subsequent years, suggesting that the benefits of the legislation were sustained over time.

National Health Service statistics analysed by researchers at Imperial College London showed the fall was equivalent to 6,802 fewer hospital admissions in the first three years of the law coming into effect.